Robbie Tripp is an American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

and

internet personality An Internet celebrity, also referred to as an Internet personality, is an individual who has acquired or developed their fame and notability on the Internet. The growing popularity of social media provides a means for people to reach a large ...

. He first rose to fame in 2017 and was dubbed the "curvy wife guy" by the media. After releasing his debut single "Chubby Sexy" in 2019, Tripp was credited by

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

for pioneering the " wife guy" movement in internet culture. He has since collaborated with RiFF RAFF,

BlocBoy JB James Lee Baker (born May 19, 1996), known professionally as BlocBoy JB, is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. Baker is best known for his 2018 single " Look Alive" (featuring Drake), which peaked at number five on the ''Billboard'' Hot ...

Dizzy Wright La'Reonte Wright (born November 26, 1990), known professionally as Dizzy Wright, is an American rapper and record producer. In December 2011, Wright signed to rapper Hopsin's independent record label, Funk Volume. After signing, he released his ...

, and Jahlil Beats.

Early life

Tripp was born in Utah and spent his formative and teenage years playing competitive basketball. At 13 years old, he was chosen as of one of 10 participants across the United States to participate in Shaquille O'Neal's Hot Shots Camp. In high school, Tripp finished his prep career as one of the top leading scorers in the state of Utah. In the 2008-2009 season, Tripp ranked #3 among statewide leaders in points per game, behind future BYU all-time leading scorer Tyler Haws and future NBA first round draft pick CJ Wilcox. Robbie was recruited to continue his basketball career at the

junior college A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...

(JUCO) level, playing shooting guard for

Hartnell College Hartnell College is a public community college in Salinas, California. Established in 1920 as Salinas Junior College, Hartnell is one of 115 schools that constitute the California Community Colleges, one of the three higher education systems i ...

where he competed in the Coast Conference of the

CCCAA The California Community College Athletic Association (3C2A; formerly CCCAA) is a sports association of community colleges in the U.S. state of California. It oversees 108 athletic programs throughout the state. The organization was formed in ...

(California's community college athletics system most notably featured in Netflix's sports documentary series Last Chance U: Basketball.)

Career

In 2014, Tripp and his wife Sarah were married and later moved to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

to pursue careers as

content creators Content creation or content creative is the act of producing and sharing information or media content for specific audiences, particularly in digital contexts. According to '' Dictionary.com'', content refers to "something that is to be expresse ...

and

influencers A social media influencer, or simply influencer (also known as an online influencer), is a person who builds a grassroots online presence through engaging content such as photos, videos, and updates. This is done by using direct audience intera ...

. He spent his early career as a writer and public speaker, most notably contributing to

Entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

and

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

. He is the author of ''Create Rebellion'' (2015). Tripp gave a TEDx talk about the

Millennial generation Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ...

at the inaugural TEDxSalinas event. Robbie Tripp's Instagram tribute to his wife received international attention in 2017, garnering polarizing reactions and wide-ranging conversations online on the topic of

body positivity Body positivity is a social movement that promotes a positive view of all bodies, regardless of size, shape, skin tone, gender, and physical abilities. Proponents focus on the appreciation of the functionality and health of the human body instea ...

. The viral post received significant media coverage worldwide as it became a trending topic across social media platforms, eventually becoming known as the "I love my curvy wife" post that pioneered the " wife guy" phenomenon online. In 2023, Tripp founded Desert Money Media, Inc., a media and production company that creates and distributes music and creative content for independent artists and creators.

Music career

In 2019, Robbie Tripp released his debut single "Chubby Sexy" and its official music video featuring his wife and other plus-size models. The video was featured as a "Moment of the Year" by

GQ Magazine ''GQ'' (short for ''Gentlemen's Quarterly'' and previously known as ''Apparel Arts'') is an international monthly men's magazine based in New York City and founded in 1931. The publication focuses on fashion, style, and culture for men, though ...

in its annual "Men of the Year" issue. Tripp was profiled by Vox leading up to the release of the song and music video. "Chubby Sexy" caught the attention of internet culture reporters, making headlines and generating strong reactions online. In 2020, Tripp released his second single "Luka Doncic", a nod to the eponymous NBA-All Star and Slovenian basketball player. The song's official music video received media coverage overseas and eventually caught the attention of

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

owner

Mark Cuban Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American businessman and television personality. He is the former principal owner and current minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and co-owner of 2929 Entertain ...

who requested it be played pre-game at

American Airlines Center The American Airlines Center (AAC) is a multi-purpose List of indoor arenas, indoor arena located in the Victory Park, Dallas, Victory Park neighborhood in downtown Dallas, Texas. The arena serves as the home of the Dallas Stars of the National ...

. Later that summer, Tripp released a third single, "White T-Shirt" produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Jahlil Beats, with an official music video shot in his hometown of Las Vegas. In 2021, Tripp released his collaboration with RiFF RAFF for their single and music video "Flamingo Freestyle". Later that year, Tripp released his song "Suns in 4" in collaboration with syndicated

iHeart Radio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast, radio streaming and Music Streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. Founded in August 2008, iHeartRadio serves as the national umbrella brand for iHeartM ...

host Johnjay Van Es as a

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

anthem during the

2021 NBA Playoffs The 2021 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2020–21 season. With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting the NBA for the second consecutive year, the regular season was reduced to 72 games for each tea ...

. The song was named "Song of the Year" by the

Phoenix New Times ''Phoenix New Times'' is a free digital and print media company based in Phoenix, Arizona. ''Phoenix'' ''New Times'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, arts, cannabis, as well as longform narrative journalism. A ...

. In 2022, Robbie Tripp's breakout single "Big Girl Banger" went viral on TikTok, starting a trend of curvy and plus-size women across the world dancing to the song. Earlier that same year, Tripp collaborated with fellow Las Vegas emcee

on the release of "Raider Gang (All Black Everything)"'','' an anthem for the city's

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

during the 2022 NFL playoffs. In 2023, Tripp released the official music video for his single "Basic Bro" on his YouTube channel, starring

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit The ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue is published annually by American magazine ''Sports Illustrated'' and features female fashion models, celebrities and athletes wearing swimwear in various locales around the world. The highly coveted co ...

curve model

Ella Halikas Gabriella Athena Halikas is an American model, TikToker, and body positivity activist. A plus-size model, she appeared in advertisements for JCPenney and Snapchat before becoming a ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' model in 2021. Halikas walk ...

. Tripp also collaborated with

to shoot the music video for his single “They Said” in Las Vegas. Tripp later released a collaboration with rapper Lil Seeto for single and music video "Money Honey". In the summer of 2023, Tripp released his single "I Wanna Have Fun...", produced by 3-time Grammy Award-winning producer, Andrew Dawson, a longtime mixing engineer/producer for Kanye West's best-selling albums. In October 2023, Robbie Tripp was included in a "Top 5 Artists of 2023" list published by

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

. On October 4, 2024, Tripp released his debut EP, ''DESERT MONEY MIXTAPE''. The EP, released independently of a label, debuted atop the featured bestselling Top Hip-Hop Albums chart on iTunes. In 2025, Tripp appeared on Utah's

KTVX KTVX (channel 4) is a television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Ogden-licensed KUCW (channel 30), an owned-and-operated station of The CW. The two stations sh ...

Morning Show "Good Things Utah" to discuss his single "OUT IN UTAH", inspired by his "mountain basketball roots" and "filled with references of Utah (Jazz) hoops legends.”

Personal life

Tripp lives in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

with his wife, Sarah Tripp, a personal style blogger and influencer. They have three children together. Tripp's older brother, Ryan Tripp, was the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

holder from 1998-2000 for the world's longest ride on a lawnmower. In 1997, Ryan traveled 3,116 miles from

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

on a riding lawnmower, with his father driving behind in a truck, to raise awareness for organ and tissue donation while setting the world record.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tripp, Robbie American rappers American Internet celebrities YouTubers from Nevada 21st-century American rappers Rappers from Nevada American male rappers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people